EMERGENCY ROOM

RELEASES

V/A
EMERGENCY ROOM VOL 1 LP+BOOK
GROSSMOD07 / NOMI002

this record is to document a year of one of the best alternative
spaces currently operating in canada. THE EMERGENCY ROOM is located
in vancouver’s rat and drug infested downtown eastside. a literal
underground, this basement warehouse is an indestructible fortress of
creation, destruction and repair with a philosophy of DANCE or DIE,
piss your pants and puke on yourself!!!

from its origins as a free, D.I.Y. all-ages noise/performance art
gathering in the basement of the emily carr arts institute parkade,
to its current existence in a former fish processing factory, the
E.R. has consistently put on some of the weirdest, most elaborate,
entertaining and ridiculous art and music shows in vancouver’s recent
underground history.

Includes full-size, 20 page book of photos, art and text printed on recycled paper at Hemlock Printers.

REVIEWS

DUSTED - STILL SINGLE: VOL. 4, NO. 10

Various Artists
Emergency Room Vol. 1 LP
(Grotesque Modern/Nominal)

Venue-centric collection of Vancouver bands that played at/have a stake in a raw industrial space called the Emergency Room. Looks like a blast – big booklet included with the album features a lot of great photos of YOUTH ACTION, the sort of progressive, anti-normative expression that's great when it includes, say, Sex Vid or Vapid, and a bummer when it comes down to, like, AIDS Wolf, but that's neither here nor there. What is here – and there's a lot of it – is grrrl-powered punk, ranging from the traditional (Petroleum By-Products, White Lung) to the very stressed, leveling force thrown off by Mutators. The two Vapid songs here don't touch their 7" but are cool to have. Defektors kick out two songs that recall both the Observers and the more hostile moments of My Dad Is Dead, something I didn't expect. Twin Crystals keep it topical, a positive force of DC proportions. Nu Sensae sounds raw as hell, segueing into the obligatory noise track by Sick Buildings (it is 2008 after all). Cover art juxtaposes Neil Burke/Sam McPheeters with John Waters at a punker party. All in all, despite the limits of musical expression imposed upon these bands (and let's face it – if we haven't heard it yet, it's probably not gonna come from here), it's an eye-opening effort with some good jams and its heart in the right place – in the basement. 924 copies.

Compilation LPs tend to get listened to once and filed 'round my yard - invariably there's a couple of stand-outs and the rest filler. Not so here. This disc will go down in the annals of time as a classic document of a scene (a ripping one at that!). Showcasing a bunch of bands who play at the Emergency Room club in Vancouver, Canada, this is as good as the legendary Vancouver Complication LP of three decades ago. Uber limited, some 900-odd copies, complete with lavish photo booklet, which appears to be hand stitched. Let's not forget the real meat...the music...ah, the music. Side one has the more straightforward punkers, and the flip, some more art-damaged wave. Every track on the A-side is a winner with the DEFEKTORS taking the tape by a nose with their snappy WIPERS-meets-REALLY RED jams, but not far behind comes THE VAPIDS [sic], sounding like a more pissed BIKINI KILL, or maybe it's the PETROLEUM BY PRODUCTS, BANSHEES/ADAM AND THE ANTS rockers... Fuck, I can't pick 'em. The B side is a tougher listen, THE MUTATORS are a squealing wall of noise, blowing the fuck out of most mainland "no-fi" bands, followed by the TWIN CRYSTALS' LOST SOUNDS homage, then the even more abrasive electro madness of NU SENSAE and SICK BUILDINGS. The A-side is more my speed, but the whole LP is quite a listen. Nice.

-Tim Brooks

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RAZORCAKE #46

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Emergency Rom Vol. 1: LP and Book

Here's a comp worth picking up. The music is quality and the packaging superb with a 12" x 12" photobook of some of the bands on this record, and some who aren't. The whole shebang is a document of one year at the Emergency Room, an all-ages performance space in Vancouver. The bands tend to lean towards the punk end of the spectrum, with various flavors added and subtracted. Defektors remind me of early L.A. punk, similar to Dangerhouse fare. Petroleum By-products [sic] are the sort of punk Olympia, WA bands wish they were. Vapid remind me a bit of Bikini Kill, only tougher and nastier. Whitelung [sic] have jumpy rhythms that's danceable, but not disco. Mutators churn out neo no wave in a mix of minimal and noise. Twin Crystals are art damaged with a menacing undercurrent. Nu Sensae are raw and fast. The vocals are venomous. Gotta hear 'em! Sick Buildings emit noise to either contemplate or run out of the room. You Pick. Either way, get this record. Only 924 copies have been pressed up.